The P G Wodehouse Society (UK)

Information Sheet Number 1 Revision 2 September 2008

Books by P G Wodehouse
The purpose of this information sheet is to provide an authoritative list of the books written by P G Wodehouse. There is no agreement amongst commentators or aficionados as to how many he wrote, for the reasons explained below, and The P G Wodehouse Society (UK) does not express a view on this matter. Reasons why there can be many legitimate views as to the number of his books include: 1 Several books, particularly collections of short stories, which were published in the United States differed from the nearest equivalent collection in the United Kingdom. Some books have joint authorship with another person. When referring to his output of fiction, it is necessary to exclude autobiographical and similar work, and collections of essays. A decision has to be made on whether to include collections of stories first published in book form after Wodehouses death. A decision has to be made on whether to include the unfinished novel Sunset at Blandings. A decision has to be made on whether to include individual short stories published in book form for individual or promotional reasons. Different approaches can be taken to the problems caused by the books making up Mike, The Prince and Betty and Psmith, Journalist. The recent discovery of a serialised novelette based on The Prince and Betty, and a novelette version of A Gentleman of Leisure.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

To enable those interested to make their own informed decisions, this information sheet divides P G Wodehouses books into titles of different descriptions, gives the equivalent American title in brackets where different, and identifies whether the UK or the US edition was published first. The code followed in all the lists is: Bold type where the UK printing came first. Italic type indicates simultaneous publication. Ordinary type where the US printing came first.

NOVELS PUBLISHED DURING WODEHOUSES LIFETIME (69)

Date UK 1902 US 1902 The Pothunters Title Note

1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 Date UK 1909 1909 1910 1910 1912 1913 1915 1915 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1922 1923 1924 1925 1927 1928 1929 1931 1931 1932 1932 1933 1934 1934 1935

1903 1923 1922 1909 1907 US

A Prefects Uncle The Gold Bat The Head of Kays Love Among the Chickens The White Feather Title The Swoop Mike Psmith in the City A Gentleman of Leisure (The Intrusion of Jimmy) The Prince and Betty (US version) The Prince and Betty (UK version) The Little Nugget Something Fresh (Something New) Psmith, Journalist Uneasy Money Piccadilly Jim A Damsel in Distress The Coming of Bill (Their Mutual Child) Jill the Reckless (The Little Warrior) The Girl on the Boat (Three Men and a Maid) The Adventures of Sally (Mostly Sally) Leave it to Psmith Bill the Conqueror Sam the Sudden (Sam in the Suburbs) The Small Bachelor Money for Nothing Summer Lightning (Fish Preferred) Big Money If I Were You Doctor Sally 6 Hot Water Heavy Weather Thank You, Jeeves Right Ho, Jeeves (Brinkley Manor) The Luck of the Bodkins 7 5 4 4 4 Note 2 3 1

1910 1910 1910 1912 1914 1915 1915 1916 1917 1919 1919 1920 1922 1923 1924 1925 1925 1927 1928 1929 1931 1931 1932 1933 1934 1934 1936

1936 1938 1938 1939 1940 1946 1947 1947 UK 1948 1948 1949 1951 1952 1952 1953 1954 1956 1957 1958 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974

1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1942 1946 1947 US 1948 1948 1949 1951 1952 1952 1954 1954 1959 1957 1958 1960 1961 1961 1963 1964 1964 1967 1968 1970 1971 1971 1973 1974 1975

Laughing Gas Summer Moonshine The Code of the Woosters Uncle Fred in the Springtime Quick Service Money in the Bank Joy in the Morning Full Moon Title Spring Fever Uncle Dynamite The Mating Season The Old Reliable Barmy in Wonderland (Angel Cake) Pigs Have Wings Ring for Jeeves (The Return of Jeeves) Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (Bertie Wooster Sees It Through) French Leave Something Fishy (The Butler Did It) Cocktail Time Jeeves in the Offing (How Right you Are, Jeeves) Ice in the Bedroom (The Ice in the Bedroom) Service with a Smile Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves Frozen Assets (Biffens Millions) Galahad at Blandings (The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood) Company for Henry (The Purloined Paperweight) Do Butlers Burgle Banks? A Pelican at Blandings (No Nudes is Good Nudes) The Girl in Blue Much Obliged, Jeeves (Jeeves and the Tie That Binds) Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin (The Plot that Thickened) Bachelors Anonymous Aunts Arent Gentlemen (The Catnappers) 9 Note 8

Date

NOTES
1 Revised in a new edition in 1921. The changes, other than the

exclusion of a report of Jeremy Garnets wedding, were not extensive and do not justify it being regarded as a separate novel. 2 3 Only published in the US posthumously in an anthology, The Swoop and other Stories, which appeared in 1979. Mike was the book publication of two serials from The Captain, entitled Jackson Junior and The Lost Lambs . Each was subsequently published separately in book form in both the UK and the US: Jackson Junior The Lost Lambs 4 as Mike at Wrykyn (1953) as Enter Psmith (1935) and Mike and Psmith (1953)

The Prince and Betty and Psmith, Journalist can cause a great deal of confusion, particularly as Psmith, Journalist, which appeared as a serial in 1909, was not published in book form until 1915. The UK version of The Prince and Betty also appeared in serial form, in 1912, in both the UK and the US, though each had different texts, and the US version was serialised later. The US book version combined parts of both books and changed the names of some of the characters so that, for example, Psmith was renamed Smith. Because it appeared before either of the UK books, some commentators have been misled into supposing it was written first. It was not, but it is sufficiently different from the others to be regarded as a separate novel, indispensable to any complete collection. Something New, the US title, has an added scene of about 20 pages taken straight from the second part of Mike. It is probably not sufficiently different to be regarded as a wholly new story but collectors should be aware of its importance. They should also be aware that later (1972) American paperbacks used the UK text. Doctor Sally only appeared in the US (under the title The Medicine Girl) as a constituent part of the short story collection The Crime Wave at Blandings. The Luck of the Bodkins was completely rewritten for serialisation in the US, and the US book followed that text. The original text was used for the UK book and they probably should be regarded as two separate stories, though with substantial similarities. Uncle Fred in the Springtime appeared first, in emaciated form, in The Saturday Evening Post after its editor had requested simplification of the plot and the removal of two characters. The original text was retained for the book. This book was adapted from and its second half incorporates much dialogue from The Butter and Egg Man by George S Kaufman, to whom Wodehouse paid half his royalties.

NOVELS PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY (4)

Date UK 1977 US 1978 Sunset at Blandings Title Note 1

1997 2003 2004

The Luck Stone A Prince for Hire The Gem Collector

2 3 4

NOTES
1 2 3 Incomplete at Wodehouses death. The extant text was published with annotations by Richard Usborne. This book appeared in serial form in Chums in 1908-1909 but not in book form until 1997. This novel was a comprehensive rewrite (in 1931) of the American version of The Prince and Betty. It appeared only in an American magazine, in five instalments. This is a novelette version of A Gentleman of Leisure which appeared first in Ainslees magazine in December 1909. It has never been officially approved for book publication but in 2004 a US publisher produced it in book form as it is in public domain in the USA. It is still fully protected by copyright restrictions in the UK, the rest of Europe and many other countries.

SHORT STORY COLL E C TIONS WODEHOUSES LIFETIME (19)

PUBLISHED

DURING

In this section, titles are listed when they represent the first book appearance of the constituent stories. Omnibus collections or anthologies of previously published material are not shown. American editions which differ by more than one story from the UK equivalent are identified by an asterisk. Date UK 1903 1914 1917 1919 1922 1924 1925 1926 1927 1929 1930 1933 1935 1936 1924 1925 1927 1927 1928 1930 1930 1933 1935 1936 1933 US 1903 Tales of St Austins The Man Upstairs The Man with Two Left Feet My Man Jeeves The Clicking of Cuthbert (Golf without Tears) Ukridge (He Rather Enjoyed It) Carry On, Jeeves The Heart of a Goof (Divots) Meet Mr Mulliner Mr Mulliner Speaking Very Good, Jeeves Mulliner Nights Blandings Castle and Elsewhere (Blandings Castle) Young Men in Spats * * Title Note

1937 1940 1950 1959 1966

1937 1940 1951 1959 1967

Lord Emsworth and Others (Crime Wave at Blandings) Eggs, Beans and Crumpets Nothing Serious A Few Quick Ones Plum Pie

* *

NOTES
1 The American version excludes various extracts from Punch appear as links between chapters in the UK edition. which

EPISODIC NOVELS LIFETIME (2)

PUBLISHED

DURING

WODEHOUSES

The following two books are in reality collections of short stories which were reordered, given new introductions and/or endings, and published in a format resembling a novel. Date UK 1921 1923 US 1921 1923 Indiscretions of Archie The Inimitable Jeeves (Jeeves) Title

CHILDRENS BOOKS (1)

Date UK 1904 US 1904 William Tell Told Again Title

SHORT STORY COLL E C TIONS PUBLISHED IN BOOK FORM FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER WODEHOUSES DEATH (3)
Date UK 1993 1997 US 1983 The Uncollected Wodehouse Plum Stones Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere Title Note 1

NOTES
1 This includes a number examples of early journalism which cannot be described as stories.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL (3)
Date UK 1953 1954 1957 1953 1956 1962 US Title Performing Flea (with William Townend) Bring on the Girls (with Guy Bolton) Over Seventy (America, I Like You) Author! Author! Note 1 2 3 1

NOTES
1 Performing Flea was partly rewritten, and PGWs notes adding information concerning various letters were added in the American edition. Many of the anecdotes in the US edition did not appear in the UK, and vice-versa. Both based largely on essays written in the past but the two editions have their differences.

2 3

ESSAYS, JOURNALISM and POETRY (3)

Date UK 1908 1932 1990 US 1985 Louder and Funnier The Parrot and Other Poems 1 Title Globe By The Way Book (with Herbert Westbrook)

NOTES
1 This includes a number of poems in the series entitled The Parrot, which appeared in The Daily Express in 1903 and may not have been written by Wodehouse.

ACKNOWL EDG ED JOINT AUTHORSHIP: FICTION (2)

Date UK 1907 1991 US 1980 Title Not George Washington (with Herbert Westbrook) A Man of Means (with C H Bovill)

SINGLE SHORT STORIES PUBLISHED DURING WODEHOUSES LIFETIME (3)

Date UK 1933 1939 US 1931 Homeopathic Treatment The Great Sermon Handicap Dudley is Back to Normal 2 Title Note 1

NOTES
1 2 Published for publicity purposes by the American magazine Boys Life. Published by PGWs regular publisher, Doubleday, for US copyright reasons..

Tony Ring